Vic Toweel
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Victor "Vic" Anthony Toweel (12 January 1928 – 15 August 2008) was a South African
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
and former undisputed World bantamweight champion. He was the first South African to hold a world title.


Personal

Victor Anthony Toweel was born on 12 January 1928 in
Benoni, South Africa Benoni is a town in Ekurhuleni municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. Benoni was also the setting for the MTV-inspired movie ''Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni'', released internationally in 2005. People from Benoni *Urzila Carlson, New Zeala ...
. He was the second eldest of six brothers and the son of Michael Joseph Toweel, who was of Lebanese descent. Toweel's father, better known as Pappa Mike, taught his sons, Jimmy, Victor, Fraser,
Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...
and Allan the basic rudiments of boxing and forged a family legacy in a makeshift corrugated iron gymnasium in the backyard of his home in Benoni. All of the Toweel brothers achieved success in the boxing world: Willie won an Olympic bronze medal and fought for a world title, Allan was a top trainer, Maurice an outstanding matchmaker and Jimmy a South African champion. Toweel was an instinctive boxer who, at his best, flaunted incredible stamina, perfect balance and a blazing work ethic. His greatest asset as a fighter was his ability to throw non-stop batteries of punches without tiring.


Amateur career

Toweel was a very successful amateur, winning Springbok colours, and compiling an unbelievable record of 188 wins with only two losses - 160 by knock out. He won East Rand, Transvaal and SA junior and senior titles from 1941 to 1948 and was No 1 choice for the 1948 Olympic team. He competed in the
1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
in London in the bantamweight competition, but was eliminated in the first round by
Arnoldo Parés Arnoldo Parés (born 1922) is an Argentine boxer who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics in the bantamweight, he beat Vic Toweel in the first round on points, but then lost to British boxer Jimmy Carruthers James William Carruthers (5 Ju ...
of Argentina in a controversial decision.


Pro career

Soon after returning from the Olympics, Toweel turned professional. He made his professional debut on 29 January 1949, stopping Johannes Landman in the second round, the same night his brother Jimmy won the national lightweight title. Two wins inside the distance over Herby Andre and Kalla Persson followed. In his fourth professional fight Toweel won the SA bantamweight title when veteran Jimmy Webster was disqualified in the third round for holding. In his ninth fight, he became the SA featherweight champion. He captured the British Empire Bantamweight Title, in his 11th fight. On 31 May 1950, in his 14th fight, at the age of 21, he won the world bantamweight championship. Fighting using nicknames including "Dynamite," "Benoni's Mighty Mouse," the "Benoni Buzzaw," and the "white
Henry Armstrong Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 – October 24, 1988) was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisio ...
" for his constant attack fighting style, Toweel beat Word bantamweight champion Manuel Ortiz, who was recognised as one of the greatest bantamweight champions of all time. At that stage, Manuel Ortiz was a veteran of 110 fights whereas Vic had had only fought 13 contests as a professional. During his reign as a world champion, Toweel had 13 bouts consisting of three successful title defences and 10 successful non-title fights against world rated contenders. He successfully defended his world title against Danny O'Sullivan (KO 10 round) whom he dropped 14 times, winning him a place in the Guinness Book of Records, for the most knock downs in a world title fight. His second and third title defences were against Luis Romero (won in 15 rounds) and
Peter Keenan Peter Patrick Pius Paul "Crackers" Keenan (born 7 April 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who worked as a strapper for Bart Cummings, and played with Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. Keena ...
(won in 15 rounds). A drastically weight-weakened Vic was dethroned by Australian
Jimmy Carruthers James William Carruthers (5 July 1929 – 15 August 1990) was an Australian boxer, who became world champion in the bantamweight division. Jimmy was the 2009 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Veterans category. Amateur c ...
in his fourth title defence, Toweel losing by a first round knockout. Carruthers gave Toweel a return match on 21 March 1953 and a crowd of 35,000 saw him holding his own until the sixth round, when he began to fade. He was counted out in the tenth. Toweel's eyes were giving him trouble and he went to London where a successful operation was performed. On his return he announced that he would continue fighting as a featherweight. On 11 December 1953 he outpointed British featherweight champion Ronnie Clayton before losing on points to highly regarded Carmelo Costa in New York. On 6 November 1953 Vic had his last fight, in the welterweight division, when he stopped Harry Walker in the eighth. After years of battling with his weight and only two months short of his 27th birthday, he decided to hang up his gloves with a professional record was 28-3-1 (14). Toweel was SA's first and so-far only undisputed world boxing champion.


Life after boxing

Toweel retired to Australia in the 1980s and died aged 79 in
Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...
, on Friday morning 15 August 2008.


Professional boxing record


See also

*
List of bantamweight boxing champions This is a list of world bantamweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize ...


References


External links

*
sports-reference.com


{{DEFAULTSORT:Toweel, Vic 1928 births 2008 deaths Flyweight boxers Olympic boxers of South Africa Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics World bantamweight boxing champions People from Benoni South African people of Lebanese descent Sportspeople of Lebanese descent South African male boxers Sportspeople from Gauteng